submission from the Australian Mathematical Sciences Institute

August 2011

Preamble and context statement

This submission is being made by the Australian Mathematical Sciences Institute in our role as advocate for our membership (almost all Australian university mathematics and statistics departments, the Australian Mathematical Society, CSIRO, ABS and the Australian Mathematics Trust).

As a general rule we have avoided making responses to questions in the issues paper which canvas non discipline-specific issues. We have attempted to restrict ourselves to the teacher workforce in the mathematical sciences.

By mathematical sciences we mean mathematics and statistics which is taught in schools as the subject mathematics.

Context

The greatest single challenge to the health of the mathematical sciences in Australia is the long term decline in enrolments in calculus-based mathematics subjects, often referred to as intermediate or advanced, at year 12¹. This decline is both a consequence and a cause of

• widespread tertiary course realignments to cope with increasing numbers of less mathematically literate students,
• these subjects not being taught in many regional and low SES areas,
• reduced graduation rates in the mathematical sciences and stagnating interest in engineering and sciences courses,
• reduced intake into teacher training programs of mathematically qualified graduates,
• reduced numbers of qualified secondary school teachers teaching at all levels, especially in regional and low SES areas, leading  to fewer  students in calculus-based mathematics subjects at Year 12,
• a significant reduction of the number of institutions offering mathematics and statistics majors with a consequent reduction in staffing.

This decline creates a structural impediment to meeting Australia’s galloping demand for mathematics and statistics graduates² and it puts a brake on the national productivity growth enjoyed by other OECD countries which have no such impediment and where mathematics and statistics graduate levels are, on average, two and a half times higher than those in Australia.

The national strategic importance of our discipline is recognized by government, for example:

"A nation that cannot turn out top-notch mathematicians and statisticians is a nation in deep trouble. Unless we turn around the trends that have bedeviled this discipline over the last decade or so – in schools, in universities and in research – we will not be able to meet our needs for people with a sound knowledge of mathematics"
Kim Carr, 14 Feb 2008

The discipline itself actively pursues programs in both schools and universities, supported by government funding, to turn this situation around. Indeed AMSI’s very existence is a result of this determination on our part.

Because of the central and fundamental role of the teaching of mathematics in Australia’s schools the mathematical sciences sector believes that the Productivity Commission should be cognizant of this situation and identify the discipline as one requiring direct and specific intervention by Australian governments.

Responses

Overall recommendations

In addition to our responses to the Commission’s questions we propose the following measures be recommended by the Productivity Commission:

• The chronic teacher supply problem and the extent of teaching out of field in mathematics require immediate, discipline-specific intervention in a nationally coordinated manner. Ideally this should be part of a program addressing the entire pipeline in mathematics education from primary to tertiary and to research training.
• The creation of a nationally coordinated scholarship/studentship scheme for undergraduates taking a mathematical sciences major and intending to become secondary teachers of mathematics.
• The creation of a nationally coordinated scheme to qualify as mathematics teachers the many secondary teachers teaching mathematics out of field.
• Nationally coordinated measures, with enrolment targets, to increase participation in intermediate and advanced mathematics subjects at year 12.
• Nationally agreed targets for the school leadership of secondary mathematics by graduates with a major study in the mathematical sciences and a mathematics pedagogy study.
• The retention of single year postgraduate diplomas in education.
• Nationally agreed minimum standards for mathematics content knowledge in the pre-placement training of primary school teachers.

¹ Barrington, F. (2010). Updated Year 12 mathematics figures.
² Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research (2011). Research Workforce Case Study.

Download the entire submission, including responses to questions raised in the submissions paper

Issues paper and Terms of Reference (via Productivity Commission website)